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Two dead whales in the state of New York

Stationed in Hampton Bay, NY, the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society AMSEAS is devoted to marine animals by researching, educating and responding to animals in need - the latter keeping them unexpectedly busy as of late.


First, a dead humpback whale was found in Southampton, NY, on November 14th. Though the 27.5 feet (8.4 m) female seemed to have some lesions in her stomach and large intestines, there were no significant findings regarding the cause of her death. Samples were sent to a pathologist for further research.


The following week, the team had already responded to two leatherback sea turtles when reports on a live mink whale stranded in East Hampton came in on November 21st. Though the whale was guarded by East Hampton Marine Patrol and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the animal had already died by the time the AMSEAS team arrived on site. The 16 feet (4.9 m) female had been assessed as “thin and [with] barnacles on its fluke, a sign it might be in poor health”. These findings were consistent with the outcome of the necropsy. The whale was emaciated, with lesions on its heart and lungs and further disease signs in its brain. All these findings matched with other cases of diseases found in most of the other mink whale strandings in the area during the last two years.


These cases are the 13th and 14th large whales AMSEAS, the lead large whale response organization in New York State, has responded to this year. Especially the number of stranded humpback whales has shown an unusual increase since 2016. AMSEAS pointed out how grateful they are for the support of network partners and volunteers to “pull resources together quickly for a response like this”. Especially since it is essential to build an increasing capacity for large whale response in the area.

The mink whale in East Hampton died due to a disease.
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